The Heroic Age of the Late Qing Dynasty

After the founding of New China, because many comrades in the revolutionary era got married just for the sake of getting married, and many of them were arranged matches, there was a wave of divorces after liberation. This would be a normal phenomenon in the 21st century, but the fact that this situation occurred in the early days of liberation is worth pondering.

In anti-Japanese dramas, there's a common scene where a high-ranking official takes a fancy to a young nurse and immediately files a petition to force her into marriage. The hospital leader says it's a political task, and the young nurse has no place to argue. There's also the story of some officers seeing a lady from a wealthy family and saying she's divorced from her old hag!

When Zhang Yinghao thought about the issue of marriage, he thought about the revolutionary era. Those revolutionary predecessors were obsessed with revolution. When the revolution was victorious, they were too old to have time for love. What else could they do without the help of the organization? So there was a discussion on the Internet about where those tall and young female soldiers in the army ended up. Haha! No more explanation.

Zhang Yinghao knew that these rules would inevitably emerge within his team. Strictness had its advantages, preventing major tragedies. However, people's hearts had to be taken into account, and they couldn't be discouraged. In wartime, there were no definitive answers; only in peacetime could the question of whether a rule was justified be discussed.

Regardless of the final outcome, political scrutiny of the woman is essential. A relationship between a husband and wife is one of the most intimate, politically unacceptable. If spies or secret agents were to infiltrate high-ranking commanders or important personnel, the damage would be far greater. Zhang Yinghao, having watched so many TV dramas, understood this principle.

However, the issue of women remains unresolved, not even in the 21st century. Instead, it appears to be intensifying. Generally, when Party members and cadres encounter problems, they first begin with their private lives. There's also the nonsense that having two women is a sign of competence. But who wouldn't want more women? Monogamy is actually anti-human, because genetic inheritance dictates that the strong prevail. In terms of competition, the strong can only support more offspring. It's only with the development of human productivity, the lack of worry about survival, and the protection of morality and law that the weak have the ability to raise children.

The issue of women is not something that can be changed by will, and Zhang Yinghao certainly has no good solution. He can only start with supervision and raise awareness of prevention.

Zhang Yinghao could only sigh, "I've never seen anyone who loves virtue as much as he loves sex!" Well, come to think of it, after the Song Dynasty, many people have called the contents of the "Guofeng" (National Winds) obscene and unhealthy. Confucius simply said of the 300 poems: "Thoughts should be pure." But how many people today can truly live up to this? When thoughts become corrupt, unhealthy tendencies and bad habits naturally emerge.

Zhang Yinghao couldn't just decide on his own about this matter concerning the woman. He needed to hold a meeting to discuss it. After all, it concerned his comrade's lifelong affairs and could not be decided rashly.

Since the wedding was confirmed to be in ten days, Zhang Yinghao was mentally prepared. As for who to invite to the wedding, Zhang Yinghao hadn't yet decided on a large group. Many of his comrades had met Xue'er and would see her again. Most importantly, Zhang Yinghao believed that marriage was a deeply personal matter, so for now, he planned to simply invite relatives from both sides for a simple meal.

Chapter 14 of the first chapter:

After a shower, Zhang Yinghao returned to his office to tackle some tasks. These days, things are quite trivial, and if they're not dealt with today, they'll pile up even more tomorrow. Zhang Yinghao wrote a few words on his wall to remind himself: "Today's work, today's work." The more things are delayed, the more problems they'll cause. Clearing things up daily is the right path.

For Zhang Yinghao, a person from later times, many things were handled with relative ease, something others in the base area lacked. Many comrades, faced with a problem, didn't understand the specifics and consequences, and hesitated to make decisions. However, for many things, timely decisions are always better than delays, and mistakes should be corrected promptly.

At this time, Sichuan Governor Kui Jun finally decided to send troops to suppress Zhang Yinghao's rebel forces. Zhang Yinghao's sphere of influence had expanded to a point where Kui Jun could no longer conceal it. Although Zhang Yinghao controlled the speed of expansion, the actual speed of expansion was completely beyond Zhang Yinghao's expectations.

Many villages sent representatives to contact the army, hoping to join the base. They hoped to secure employment opportunities and obtain cheap food, cloth, and salt. The ongoing natural disasters had left the Land of Abundance in mourning. The raging situation had already made the Sichuan Governor uneasy.

If the Qing Dynasty weren't facing a critical situation, the governor would have likely sent troops to suppress the bandits long ago. As a money-making governor, he was determined to eliminate the bandits because Zhang Yinghao had already impacted his own financial success, and the cheap goods in the base had caused him heavy losses. Coupled with the encouragement and tributes from a large group of landlords and salt magnates, he finally made up his mind to deal with the bandits.

In fact, besides the landlords, the next most resentful of Zhang Yinghao were the tycoons who controlled the salt wells. A single salt well was a treasure trove, representing untold profits, even the rise and fall of entire families. The massive outflow of cheap salt from the base area severely damaged the interests of these salt merchants. As major salt merchants, their tentacles extended into every aspect of society, and their grasp of the situation was far greater than that of a parachuted-in governor like Kui Jun.

In old China, every major merchant was essentially a landowner. Many people today criticize these merchants for buying land with their wealth instead of using it to expand production. This was determined by the economic foundations of the time. The national policy of prioritizing agriculture and suppressing commerce meant these merchants simply couldn't expand their trade independently. The government often set up checkpoints and demanded payment, making it easier for them to sell their goods to other forces.

Local protectionism was prevalent during the feudal era, and it persists even in the 21st century. Local commodities, through collusion between officials and businessmen, were monopolized, resulting in enormous profits. For example, salt was not allowed to enter the market in other regions where salt was also produced. These salt merchants formed loose alliances, each with their own sales territories.

If you want to expand sales, you can only go to provinces that do not produce salt or sell a little secretly. Of course, selling secretly is against the rules. If you are discovered, there may not be any problem on the surface, but who knows what kind of trouble will happen secretly.

The real power in this situation is actually the government. In China, because imperial power did not extend beyond the county level, the county magistrate was nicknamed "Bai Li Hou." For merchants to successfully conduct business in this Bai Li Hou territory, filial piety was essential. This gave rise to a series of rules for giving money, such as how much money to give to the concierge, how much to give to the housekeeper, and the saying "Three years as a clean magistrate, 100,000 silver coins" was no joke.

Many novelists dislike the idea of ​​eliminating landlords. Their rationale is hilarious: they believe we are all Chinese and shouldn't be subjected to violence. Instead, they seek to curb landlords by reducing rent and interest, forcing them to invest their money in industry and commerce. This, however, is sheer fantasy. Landlords don't understand industry and commerce, and the slightest mistake could wipe out their fortunes. Who would want to do that? Farming doesn't bring in as much as industry or commerce, but being a landlord offers a fixed rent and the ability to lend money at high interest rates. With this stable income and minimal risk, no one would voluntarily give up an inch of land.

Moreover, the more development there is, the more obvious the importance of land becomes. Owning land is the best way to make a fortune. Haven't you seen how many families have resorted to legal action over a single "demolition" character on a house? How many lives have been changed by this? Haven't you seen how many listed companies have been saved by selling one or two houses or a piece of land? How many factories have worked themselves to death, only to find that the value of the land beneath them is not as high as the added value. Therefore, land is the ultimate carrier of a nation's wealth. No high-tech enterprise, no century-old enterprise. Zhang Yinghao absolutely does not allow private ownership of land. Otherwise, wealth will continue to be swallowed up by the land, and the country's future development will inevitably become increasingly difficult.

As long as Zhang Yinghao persisted with his land reform policies and continued to export cheap goods, both the landlords and the wealthy merchants would be determined to kill him. Even the most clueless Governor-General, Kui Jun, knew what to do. However, mobilizing troops was no easy task. Sichuan was rife with unrest, with the Boxers, the White Lotus, and the Pao Brothers causing trouble. Especially with the foreigners still in Beijing and the Empress Dowager in Xi'an, he couldn't afford to start a war rashly.

In fact, in the early days, salt merchants had approached Zhang Yinghao to discuss the issue of salt prices. In fact, to put it nicely, it was a discussion, everyone formed a profit group, monopolized the salt industry and made a fortune together. To put it bluntly, it was a threat. If he didn't follow their rules, they would join forces to ban Zhang Yinghao. However, Zhang Yinghao didn't pay much attention to these people. In the base, all rules must be made by themselves. Who are you, a few salt merchants?

Getting these people to spit out the meat they've eaten is harder than killing them. The only way to deal with them is to crush them all with the iron fist of the proletarian dictatorship. That's when fundamental change will occur. Otherwise, there's no point in playing cozy with them. Zhang Yinghao also has his eye on the wealth accumulated by these families over centuries. Forcing these people into opposing positions isn't necessarily a bad idea.

Zhang Yinghao actually didn't care about the combat effectiveness of the Eight Banners, Green Camp, and Patrol Battalion. Not only were the Eight Banners descendants hereditary, but after two hundred years of cockfighting and dog-walking, they had long since lost their ancestors' fighting spirit. This was why so many elderly people on TV in their previous lives wore military uniforms. With both young and old in their families, sending these people to the battlefield would only focus on saving their own lives, not fighting to the death.

The Manchu Qing army in Sichuan was nominally numerous, but its weaponry was uneven. Most were equipped with muzzle-loading rifles, pistols, and muskets manufactured by the Sichuan Manufacturing Bureau. A few elite troops were armed with outdated Martini smoke rifles and Shuli muskets. Only the most elite, the Du Biao and Fu Biao personal troops, were equipped with the Mao-se M1871 single-shot smoke rifle and musket. They had old-fashioned artillery, but also bows and broadswords. These weapons were sufficient to suppress peasant uprisings and local chieftain rebellions, but they were far from sufficient to deal with Zhang Yinghao.

While the Manchu army in Sichuan was poorly armed, the Eight-Nation Alliance captured numerous Western weapons from arsenals in cities like Tianjin during their invasion. During the First Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese captured over 10,000 breech-loading rifles, weapons even more advanced than those in Japan. The Qing dynasty was actually quite generous in its weaponry purchases, albeit with unplanned purchases of internationally produced weapons. However, overall, Qing military equipment was still quite advanced for the time.

But war is not entirely about the quality of weapons, but mainly about the people who use them. Zhang Yinghao, through the investigation of the intelligence department, has already got a clear picture of Sichuan's military strength. Now only a small part of the army has received Western training, and these troops are selected from the Eight Banners. Zhang Yinghao laughed at the thought. Even if you give these people submachine guns and machine guns, how much combat effectiveness can they have?

The Sichuan army is currently in a state of near-total combat effectiveness, likely due to financial problems and the lack of uniforms. The vast majority of the army has been reduced to maintaining local stability, so they don't need to be incredibly combat-ready; two spears are sufficient, much like how many police stations in later generations lacked firearms, or had extremely strict firearms controls, leaving them with only batons.

This was also the reason why Zhang Yinghao was so fearless after hearing the news. Now, the Hunan Army and Huai Army of the past were old. The only troops that could really be used were those under Yuan Shikai's command. However, Yuan Shikai was good at civil wars but not foreign wars. His tyrannical nature was exposed. It was impossible for him to fight with all his strength.

Now our Lord Kuijun can only ask the court for help except for the troops under his command, but the Qing court is already in danger and can't care about him that much. Kuijun also has no power to mobilize troops from other provinces to participate in the encirclement and suppression, so now the matter is dragged on.

After reading Kuijun's report and the actions of the landlords and merchants, Zhang Yinghao took note and sneered. He couldn't let these fat pigs get away. He hadn't even taken action against them yet, and now they were thinking of taking action against him? Zhang Yinghao's heart suddenly trembled. Hmm? Who gave him the courage to look down on the Qing Dynasty? The Qing Dynasty had ruled China for over two hundred years, after all. Maintaining power for over two hundred years was no mean feat. Could it be that he was getting married soon? Was he feeling a little cocky because he was full of energy? Besides, in a war, you don't just charge into battle; it's your comrades who are risking their lives. You should be cautious.

Zhang Yinghao put down the report on Sichuan Governor Kui Jun and thought for a moment. Then he stood up and went to the reference room to find all the reports on Sichuan and read them again. Only then did he realize the source of his confidence. Sichuan as a whole was now completely open to Zhang Yinghao.

The Manchu Qing, as the ruling power, lacked all of the advantages of time, place, and people. The persistent drought and lack of rain had already left the streets filled with starving people. The vast rural areas were completely unfamiliar to the Qing, and historical limitations had left them unaware of the greatness and enduring power of the people. This deprived the Qing of both the right time and the right people, and a few fortresses alone could not halt the people's march for liberation. With the foreign powers in power and the wolves and tigers and leopards at their feet, society was in dire need of change.

Although the vast majority of the people were still ignorant, and the Qing Dynasty was the only one who saw the reality of society, the torrent of history will never stop, it will roll forward, no matter how many comedies or tragedies happen in reality, it will never stop.

At that moment, Zhang Yinghao suddenly understood. The world's momentum was unstoppable, like a raging flood. He had come from the afterlife, making him the only person standing on the shore. Everyone in this era was still caught up in the torrent. Some tried to save themselves, some drifted with the tide, some were indifferent, some closed their eyes and ears... But how many of them, like him, could see the entire torrent at a glance?

Suddenly, scenes from the time I traveled through flashed before my eyes. There was the image of the tattered clothes I wore when I first traveled through time, the image of deceiving people into training in the mountains, the image of the first time I killed bandits, the image of the first time I attacked the landlords, the image of the first time I gathered villagers to build a reservoir, the image of seeing the machine humming and producing cloth...

Suddenly thinking of this, Zhang Yinghao smiled slightly in his heart. It’s almost time, it will be there soon.

Zhang Yinghao put down the documents, rubbed his sore shoulders and neck, and walked out of the document room. At this time, Bao Shilin, Zhang Feng, Li Tianqiao, the Public Security Bureau Chief and several other comrades came over. Zhang Yinghao was delighted to see Bao Shilin and the others. These were his old brothers.

“Chairman, we are running out of food reserves.

"Oh, how many more?"

"It's impossible to calculate the exact number right now. The situation is that a large number of refugees have poured in from outside the base, and the food and drink required for these people is a huge expense. Our own water conservancy and road projects now employ hundreds of people, and the food consumed daily for these projects is also a significant amount."

"Anything else?

"Yes, we don't have enough grain in our supply and marketing cooperatives right now. Some have already written to us asking to raise the price of grain. Otherwise, there will be a shortage of grain and we'll soon run out of grain."

Chapter 125:

Hearing this, Zhang Yinghao gave a bitter smile. This might be due to excessive money supply and inflation.

"Oh, are there many supply and marketing cooperatives that want to raise prices?"

"Chairman, these supply and marketing cooperatives are under our direct control. They are just writing to us to ask for help in obtaining grain.

"What are the current prices for cloth and other goods in our base? Is there a high demand?"

"Chairman, this is what I'm going to say. Our iron farm tools are selling very well, and now there's a shortage of supply. Since we bought a lot of machinery and equipment, we can barely keep up the supply of cloth. But cotton is a big problem. The amount of cotton we've purchased is not enough, and some factories have already limited production.

"Any questions?"

Chairman, I heard that the Governor of Sichuan is planning to attack us. Is it necessary for us to gather the troops, or at least part of the troops? If something unexpected happens, it will be too late to gather the troops.

Zhang Yinghao looked at the young comrade and forgot his name for a moment. He only remembered that he joined the army later. Zhang Yinghao could only turn around and ask Zhang Feng.

"Zhang Feng, do you think so too?"

"Yes, we all agreed in the meeting that we should at least gather a portion of the army for emergencies. The main thing is that we don't know how to conduct a large-scale march or battle, so gathering them together will help us come up with a plan."

Zhang Yinghao nodded, said nothing, and turned around to look around.

"Any questions? Or suggestions?"

"Chairman, we are already overwhelmed with these few major issues. If we have a few more, we will hang ourselves.

"Haha, I can't bear to see you hang yourself. It's already June, the new grain hasn't matured yet, and the old grain is almost gone. We are short of food now. I've said it before, if all the grain produced by the fields is distributed equally, it will only be enough to keep everyone fed, or even just keep everyone from starving to death.

Seeing everyone nodding, Zhang Yinghao continued, "We've defeated some landlords, and they have some old grain at home, but not much. The weather was dry last year, and it's still dry now, so the people don't have much food at home. Plus, we've called on the people to go out and work, which consumes their physical energy and means they have more to eat. If we hadn't harvested a batch of potatoes this year, we might be out of food now."

Zhang Yinghao stood up and prepared to pour water for everyone. When he picked up the kettle, a young soldier came over and snatched the kettle, then poured a glass of water for everyone.

Zhang Yinghao sat down and continued, "So the food problem is now our primary problem to solve. With food in hand, there is no need to panic! In the previous meeting, I was more opposed to large-scale expansion now, because we will either not expand or expand rapidly, at least to occupy the entire Sichuan Province. But what about now? I just received a report that our current Sichuan Governor has hanged himself - he is too old to live. He didn't want to be a good governor, but was instigated by those reactionary landlords and businessmen to cause trouble for us. He is about to come and fight us, and we can't just stand by and do it.

"Haha. M

"But, comrade, let me ask you a question. Even if we gather the troops, if the enemy attacks us and we then move them to the front, will it be too late?"

“Chairman, for now, it’s either too late or too late, it all depends on the situation at the time.

"Oh, tell me more!"

"If we gather our troops, and if we don't take the initiative to attack. If the intelligence is not timely, then the enemy will inevitably break into our base, which will inevitably cause losses to our base. If the intelligence is timely, then we can set up an ambush position in advance, so that our losses will be minimized.

"Well, what if we take the initiative to attack?"

"If we take the initiative to attack, based on our current reconnaissance, it will be difficult for us to wipe out the entire Sichuan reactionary faction in one fell swoop. We may end up in a stalemate. The main reason is that we do not have enough troops now, and we cannot sweep across Sichuan with the momentum of sweeping across the country.

But there is a problem now. If we want to support more soldiers, we need a larger base. Now, according to previous meetings, although the speed of expansion of our base has far exceeded the overdue rate, we have not expanded with all our strength, so there are so many problems in the base.

Bao Shilin and the others' expressions changed when they heard this, and they almost openly accused Zhang Yinghao of making a mistake. Zhang Yinghao didn't think much of it. After all, as a time traveler, many of his ideas differed from those of people in this era. At least he saw that the Eight-Nation Alliance was still in Beijing, while these comrades didn't have such concerns.

"Oh, so what do you think we should do?

"Chairman, with our current military strength, we can completely sweep across eastern Sichuan and form a situation of closing the door and beating the dog. Under such circumstances, western Sichuan is actually within our grasp. Once we occupy the entire Sichuan Plain, we will truly have food and manpower.

"Well, that's right. You all know about the new shoes our shoe factory is producing now, right? We'll proceed in four steps. First, we'll temporarily gather some soldiers to begin intensive training, and they'll be given priority to wear the shoes once the first batch is produced. At the same time, we'll also recruit new soldiers. These new soldiers will mainly be used to maintain the stability of the new base and will only go into battle when necessary.

Second, we will seize Suiding, Kuizhou, and Baoning Prefectures to expand our strategic depth. The Military Commission will decide how to deploy our troops. For the time being, we will retain Chongqing Prefecture. At the same time, we will accelerate our expansion, destroying several Qing garrisons and provoking our Sichuan Governor. The primary purpose of this expansion is to secure food. I've said this before: which landlord doesn't have three years' worth of food? Aren't many disaster victims now arriving in our base? Let's call on them to lead our troops back to their homes. We'll fight the local tyrants and distribute their land.

The third is to purchase grain through the window of Chongqing, but this is a backup plan. Let's see how much grain we can get from the landlords this time. Besides, we won't have to hold out for long, as our early rice will be harvested soon.

Fourth, intelligence agencies must quickly ascertain the Qing's future marching routes and total troop strength. Comrade Tanaka Yoshi just mentioned that our forces aren't strong enough to sweep across Sichuan at the moment, but if the enemy leaves their strongholds and concentrates, we can completely capture them. Then, we can sweep across Sichuan. However, given the efficiency of the Qing court, this fourth step might occur in one or two months, or even three or four months, though it could also happen soon. Therefore, intelligence agencies must obtain the necessary intelligence as quickly as possible. Let me emphasize that once we have eliminated these reactionary forces in Sichuan, we must immediately launch a counterattack. We must swiftly annihilate Sichuan and then be fully prepared for subsequent developments.

As for the problems you all are talking about, such as farm tools being out of stock and machines not being able to operate, I can't do anything about it for now. But as long as our base expands to cover the entire Sichuan region, these problems will be easily solved.

As for the large influx of refugees into the base, as long as we liberate their hometowns, there won't be any such influx. As long as we have food, it won't be a problem. The world is so big, how could there be no food? We'll rely on the captured food to get through this difficult time. If that doesn't work, we'll buy some more. We've also urged everyone to be frugal. But it shouldn't be a big problem, after all, the first rice harvest is coming soon."

"After the Chairman said this, we felt relieved."

"Don't think I don't want to expand the base. I am one of the people in this base who wants to expand the base the most. But since the Sichuan Governor is coming to attack us, we naturally don't need to hide it. However, after the base is expanded, how we manage it is the most important thing. Now that our base has been built for almost a year, it has only taken shape. If the whole Sichuan is built like this, how much manpower and material resources will we need?

I recently read a book that summarized a saying: science and technology are the primary productive forces. Everyone should now understand what science and technology are. However, this statement has a prerequisite: someone who can master these technologies. We do have people in our base area, but few of them have mastered science and technology.

Therefore, talent, high-quality talent, is what our base area lacks most right now. Comrade Yiwei has only brought a few people from the United States, but that's a drop in the bucket. If we rashly conquer too large a base area, and if everyone still has nothing to eat, will we be forced to starve again? Therefore, the food issue has always been our most pressing concern. Whether we can grow enough food is one of the criteria for evaluating whether our work in the liberated areas is effective.

Hearing these words, everyone fell silent. Having all experienced hunger before, they naturally knew how precious food was. Everyone looked at each other, no one having a good solution, so they could only leave the problem to Zhang Yinghao.

Chairman, how do we resolve this issue?

"Well, it's what I just said, science and technology are the primary productive forces. When our rice yields 1,000 kilograms per mu, the problem will be almost solved.

"Impossible! How could one acre possibly yield so much? The best paddy fields these days only yield three or four hundred kilograms. Chairman, that can't be that much, right?"

"Haha." Zhang Yinghao laughed bitterly.

"So our base area lacks highly qualified personnel. How long have you learned to read? Where is the farthest you have been? Comrades, you really need to study hard. Well, the talent problem can't be solved in a day or two, and neither can the food problem. However, I still say that if you work hard, you will have enough food and clothing. Rely on the mountains, and the mountains will fall. Rely on the rivers, and the rivers will dry up. We progressive party members have only one way, and that is to rely on ourselves.

Since everyone is here, I'd like to inform you of something. For a considerable period of time, I may not have time to train the top brass of our base. It's not that I don't have time, but that everyone else may not have time. With the exception of those responsible for military operations, everyone needs training.

The training notice will be sent to you tomorrow. The latest training will begin the day after tomorrow. Even if you're attending the training, you must not neglect your work and must continue to do it well. This training will only be for high-ranking comrades in our base area and some Party members and cadres. I'm telling you this now so you can be mentally prepared...

At this moment, the military security department brought in a batch of documents. Zhang Yinghao hadn't intended to read them yet, but when he took them, he was stunned by the first sentence. He ignored everyone else and focused on reading the contents. Seeing Zhang Yinghao's attentive reading, everyone quieted down and picked up their cups to drink.

Zhang Yinghao read through the entire document and then handed it to Zhang Feng, who was standing next to him. Zhang Yinghao knew that Zhang Feng probably had a copy of the document in his office, but since Zhang Feng was there, he definitely hadn't seen it yet, so he handed it to him. After handing the document to Zhang Feng, Zhang Yinghao also picked up the water cup and drank the water silently.

The content is not long. It mainly talks about catching a soldier for smoking opium, and then leading to the exposure of several opium dealers who were secretly selling opium in the base. It also includes suggestions on how to deal with this soldier.

In his previous life, Zhang Yinghao grew up under the red flag. He knew that China's century of decline began with opium, and he also knew that being a drug police officer in later generations was a high-risk job. He hated drugs. In fact, in this era, the vast majority of people were opposed to drugs. However, individuals were powerless to resist the trend brought about by money, and the imperial court allowed it to go unchecked, acquiesced to, and even encouraged the cultivation of opium, so they could only turn a blind eye.

Chapter 126:

In the past, drug users caught in the base area were subjected to forced labor, and many had died from exhaustion. Even now, newly liberated areas were still sending in a steady stream of drug users. Zhang Yinghao found it incredible that even in such dire circumstances, some people still committed crimes in defiance of the law.

After Zhang Feng finished reading it, he was about to hand it back to Zhang Yinghao. Zhang Yinghao gestured for the document to be passed around so everyone could have a look. Zhang Yinghao wasn't going to let this matter go so easily; he was going to make an example of someone who did this.

At this time, the base had a clear stance on drug, gambling, and pornography prohibitions, and extensive publicity was carried out. There were no longer arbitrary arrests or killings without prior publicity. Previously, the military security department generally handled these matters the same way soldiers would handle civilians. When Zhang Yinghao saw a soldier using drugs, he was genuinely shocked and furious, wanting to immediately grab the soldier and shoot him. But now, having calmed down, he reflected.

This is a good thing. The sooner a problem is exposed, the better. At least after this incident, after educating people, no one will say anything if they find drug users next time and take them out and shoot them.

After everyone had read the document, Zhang Yinghao said: "Tell us what you think.

This was Zhang Yinghao's standard meeting format, and everyone was accustomed to it. Everyone knew that as long as time permitted, Zhang Yinghao would let everyone speak, even taking turns. Some of these comrades had lost their families to drugs, and therefore had a particular aversion to them.

“Chairman, I think this soldier should be retired immediately.

"Chairman, this black sheep should be dragged out and shot. He is harming others and

"Chairman, I think we should immediately investigate the source of the drugs. This is the most important thing.

"Chairman, although our army has established many rules, many things are handled like ordinary people. This is too lax. Especially since soldiers have to go down and work with the people, it is inevitable that they will learn bad habits. We must strengthen management.

"Chairman, we should immediately investigate the situation within the military. There may be more than one person taking drugs."

"Well, everyone has said good things, and they've considered the issue very carefully. Now you know how a meeting should be held, right? As the saying goes, one person's plan is short, two people's plan is long. This way of considering the problem will be more thoughtful and comprehensive. I've said before that punishing without teaching is cruelty. This incident should be regarded as the beginning of our discipline rectification. We will remove this soldier from the military and send him to reeducation through labor. Let's leave this matter to the military security department for now.

Now, let's list a few rules. Let's vote on them and see if they work. If not, we'll revise them. Previously, when we sang the Three Disciplines and Eight Cautions, we didn't specify how violations would be handled. This won't work anymore. Once these rules are established, they must be well publicized within our military. If such problems arise again, they should be enforced accordingly.

Of course, these are military rules, not applicable to civilians outside the army. First, drug trafficking and drug solicitation are punishable by death. Second, rape is punishable by death. Third, intentional disclosure of confidential information, or failure to immediately report such disclosures, resulting in significant losses, is punishable by death. Of course, desertion from the battlefield carries the death penalty, needless to say. What do you all think?

“I think that’s how it should be.

"can."

"No problem."

"Alright, let's make these three points public. We don't know if there are still drug users among our soldiers. We'll give them a chance. After the document is issued, these people will be required to confess their mistakes to their instructors or political commissars and undergo compulsory drug rehabilitation. If we catch drug traffickers again next time, we will publicly try them and execute them. Party members and cadres are prohibited from using drugs. Those who do will be expelled from the Party and the military, and must retire. Cadres will be laid off immediately."

"It's about giving those who are still taking drugs a chance. Chairman, if there are people who are taking drugs, how should we deal with them?"